Butterflies and Hurricanes
by Hugtheplanet
Summary: Top-notch journalists-slash-tv-hosts Lily Potter and Scorpius Malfoy absolutely loathe each other. He thinks she's a stuck-up suck up. She thinks he's an insufferable know-it-all, a badboy cliche. When their producer decides to change up their normal program and send the two of them to a different country, they discover something that scares both of them - a bigger picture.
1. Chapter 1

Soldier's Poem

"Thanks for watching - " Lily Potter began.

" - and have a great day!" Scorpius Malfoy ended. They had on charming smiles. There was a flash and the producer made the "stop filming" to the cameramen. Once the cameras were double and triple checked that they were off, Lily dropped her smile.

She turned and glared at her co-host, who was now lounging in his comfortable chair. Scorpius raised a blonde eyebrow. "What, Potter? Like what you see?"

Lily made a disparaging noise in her throat. "Would it kill you to be less arrogant on camera? You're bad enough off it!" Angrily, she pulled out the carefully placed bobby pins from her flaming red hair.

Scorpius snorted. "Please. What you call 'arrogant' is actually confident. I'm not the one who acts like shy three-year-old whenever the camera rolls around!"

Lily gaped. "You- you- argh! You are the most foul, evil, loathsome little cockroach that I've ever met!" Scorpius sat straight up.

"Excuse me? _You're_ the one flashing off every camera."

"I thought I was a 'shy three-year-old?'" Lily said waspishly.

"All right, all right. Cut it out guys." It was their producer, Herman Recuso. He was short, easily irritated and rather plump, with a boyish face. He strode over and sat on the coffee table separating the two of them.

"Listen. I get it. You two hate each other. Big deal. Put it aside for the camera. It's too annoying. Gives me a headache. We got a big project coming up, and I don't want you two ruining it. Got it?" Without waiting for an answer, he walked away.

Lily scowled at the man's back. "We do keep it off camera." She muttered to herself.

"Right." Scorpius drawled. "The public isn't stupid. They can't miss the way you look at me."

"Or the way you glare at me?" Lily snapped back, standing up. She was about to walk away when she remembered her coffee mug on the table. Bending down to pick up the green cup, she didn't miss the way Scorpius gritted his teeth and tried to look away from the top of her shirt. Lily smiled sweetly at him before spinning on her heel and sauntering to her dressing room.

The room was small and slightly informal, with pictures on her desk and a North Face jacket thrown haphazardly onto a clothing rack. Lily sat down in front of her vanity and used several wipes to remove the slightly orange makeup from her face. Her English heritage meant that the was rather pale and couldn't tan without getting freckles. A camera's nightmare.

There were many people who thought that Lily had wormed her way to a top reporter and host by using her extensive family. Her father was head of the MI5- United Kingdom's intelligence. Her mother was a famous sports reporter after playing professional soccer for the Holyhead Harpies. Her eldest brother James played soccer for England. Her other brother, Albus, wanted to pursue international law. Lily's entire family was very extensive and influential in all areas. Law? Uncle Percy, Aunt Hermione, Aunt Audrey. Intelligence? Harry Potter, Uncle Ron, Victoire. Business? Uncle George. Animals? Uncle Charlie, Auntie Luna, Uncle Rolf. Diplomacy? Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur (Ambassadors to the UN and France, respectively). Secret Service? Teddy.

And, of course, one couldn't forget all of Lily's various cousins that were spread out similarly. So, Lily was very luck to get into a field that was relatively untouched by her family. Being told that 'she had the look' was insulting to her journalism degree, but the brighter side to the whole case was that Scorpius got told the same thing.

As Lily tossed the last orange wipe into the trashcan, her Blackberry buzzed.

_Meeting in the conference room now. _

Of course, it was Herman. No one else could sound so irritable through a text. Lily rolled her eyes and decided that she would be fashionably late. Despite this decision, Lily couldn't help but move her fingers quickly over her stockings to remove them.

The door burst open. "Potter, did you get Herman's text?" Scorpius's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he put on an emotionless mask. Lily blushed furiously at the slightly provocative position she had been caught in. She was draped over her chair, stockings rolled down above her knees. She quickly moved to sit in a more acceptable way.

"Uh… yeah." Lily said, before adopting her confident air once again. "Yes. I'll be there. Conference room, right? Just give me a second."

Scorpius nodded, slowly backing out of her dressing room and closing the door. Lily pushed the stockings all the way off her feet before slipping on a pair of heels. It was odd talking to Scorpius civilly.

She exited the room and was surprised to find Scorpius not too far from her door. His body language made it clear that under no terms were they to discuss the awkward scene that had just occurred.

"Nice shoes, Potter." Lily set her jaw and kept walking, now self-conscious about how her violet heels didn't match her gray suit. Their destination had never seemed farther away. Three corridors and an elevator up a floor.

As they entered the imposing conference room, Lily was surprised to see a small group of people there. Normally, the meetings that Herman insisted on having in the CR involved so many people that Lily was close to suffering from claustrophobia.

It was just Herman, a few cameramen, and the make up artist, Pooja (who was affectionately called Ja). Herman scowled at them. "Now we can _finally_ talk about what is going to happen with this next assignment." Lily's cheeks burned as a cameraman smirked at her. Pooja sent her a friendly smile. Scorpius ignored them and casually dropped into a chair. Lily scowled at the smug git and sat stiffly next to him.

Herman leaned forward on the table, dropped a manila folder, filled with pictures and papers on the table. He dug in his pockets and removed several highlighters and pens. Then, he placed his own Blackberry on the table with a careful precision.

Lily rolled her eyes, too used to Herman's disorganized style to even laugh. The man was a mess without his secretary.

Scorpius sighed, clearly agreeing with Lily's unspoken thoughts. She glanced at him, trailing her eyes along his strong jaw line. It was quite clear that Scorpius was a very attractive man - tall and lean, with sharp features. However, he knew this, which was what made him so unbearable.

Scorpius glanced at her, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. Lily let a small mocking smile break loose before looking at Herman. Their producer had popped off the cap to a yellow highlighter and was shuffling some papers.

Ja let out a small sigh. Lily and her exchanged knowing glances.

"Okay." Herman was ready, looking down on a paper, covering with words, both typed and handwritten.

"We are going to be doing a special segment, for the next month, starting in about three days."

"On what?" Scorpius asked, looking almost bored. Lily resisted the urge to smack him.

"I'm going to tell you, Malfoy!" Herman barked out. Lily snorted, and Ja tried to cover her smile.

"This is gonna be a little "self-discovery" thing. You know, the really clichéd stuff. However, here's the twist. You _both_ are going to be going with our lucky person."

Scorpius's mouth dropped open. "B - Both of us?"

Lily almost fell off the chair. "But - I - Herman! That's a violation of TSA safety guidelines! No explosives! And me and this douche are _explosive_! Like, bang, bang!" She spluttered.

Ja looked worriedly between the two. "You know, I think this is a bad idea…"

"I think you mean this douche and I…"

"Piss off, Malfoy!"

"Oh, that's original, Potter… Got any more?"

"ENOUGH!" Herman bellowed. Even the cameramen jumped. He let out a quick breath. "You both will be accompanying each other on the trip, and you will deal with it."

"And who is our 'lucky person?' The one that we have to follow to some godforsaken place on this planet?" Lily questioned, fighting to remain calm.

Herman let out a grim little smile as he highlighted something on the paper. "Your lovely makeup artist."

Scorpius and Lily turned to face Ja. She winked and gave a little wave. "Hey."

Scorpius let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. This I can deal with."

"Lucky you." Lily spat out.

"Please, Potter. We all know you're just _dying_ to be in my presence."

"Speaking of dying, I think my hand just might've slipped something over your morning coffee, Malfoy."

"Piss off, Potter."

Herman, Ja and the cameramen carefully exited the room - Herman more irritably than carefully.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'STUCK WITH ME?'"

"Oh, brother." Ja muttered, shaking her head. "This is going to be one very, very long month."

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Tell me all! Were all the returning people in character? Was my writing totally horrible? **

**This is part of a little experiment that I'm doing. Basically, I've got too many Scorpily stories in my head, so I've written a chapter about each of them. Since I want to commit to only one story at a time, I'm posting one chapter for each plot up. You all read, and at the end of the month, whichever story has the most reviews is the one I'll commit to. So, if you're intrigued by this, it's in your best interest to review! **


	2. Chapter 2

Butterflies and Hurricanes: Chapter 2

"I know! And then he had the nerve to say that he's narked that he's going to be stuck with me!" Lily complained on her phone as she walked down the crowded street to her flat.

"Babe! He did not!" Luke replied, actually sounding shocked.

"He so did." Lily nodded as though she were talking to the man himself.

"And how'd you react?"

"I screamed my bloody arse off, of course! Told him that if he thought that he could talk to me like that, he needed his brain checked."

"Good on you, sweetheart!"

As usual, Lily was relying her day to her best friend, Luke Beatus. Although, many times it involved Lily ranting about Scorpius with Luke nodding along and making various supporting noises.

She cringed as a double Decker drove past, filled to the brim with tourist and native Brits who had the patience to put up with the aforementioned group. Double Decker's always gave Lily the creeps just thinking about them…she wasn't sure why.

Luke had moved on discuss how things were at his university and the excitement he felt over finally starting his cadaver.

"- And I swear to you, whatever the bloke had been eating when he died definitely made a mark! It was all –"

"OI! POTTER!"

Lily turned around, only to see that it was one of the show's cameramen, Zachary Pochemu.

"Hey, mate… uh, call you later 'kay? A bloke wants a word." She cut off Luke as he was going into a description of the man's intestines.

Luke let out a wolf whistle and crowed "You go, bitch!" before hanging up.

Lily's cheeks burned at the implication. She focused on keeping her breathing even as she put her phone in the pocket of her jeans [infinitely more comfortable than her work clothes]. The last thing she needed was Zach thinking that she was blushing because of him.

He caught up to her.

"Hey Zach." Lily smiled at one of the men who would be going with her to India. She might as well start making friends early.

He grinned back and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Where you headed, Potter?"

"Home." Lily said, before adding cheekily, "You know, the place where you go after you work your 9-to-5." Zach laughed, easily accepting her humor.

"What'd you need to talk about? Or did you just come to bask in my amazing aura?" Lily continued, perhaps pushing it a bit far.

Zach grinned. "Yes, I felt your aura from far off… next to the coffee shop." He chuckled adopting the mystical tones of the ever popular TV fortuneteller, Sybil Trelawney. He dropped his voice to normality.

"So, uh… nice Sperry's."

Lily raised an eyebrow, glancing at her shoes. "Thanks…"

Zach tugged at the hairs on the back of his neck. "Okay. Um, that was an epic fail. I was, uh, wondering if you'd be free so maybe we could - "

"Is this a work-related meeting?" Lily asked, daring to hope that she was being asked out.

"Um… not really, but if it's what gets you to go out with me then sure?" Zach rambled, glancing at the ground.

Lily couldn't resist taking the mick. "Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Pochemu?"

Zach looked relieved that Lily got the point. "Well, yes, Miss Potter, that's exactly what I'm doing."

"Well in that case, me and my Sperry's will accept. Where to?" Lily adopted an air that would make the Queen of England jealous.

"Serendipity?" Zach said sheepishly, naming a popular café.

Lily grinned. "Absolutely… Wait - was that just foreshadowing? You said you spotted me by a coffee shop, you pretended to be Trelawney, who predicts the future, and now you're asking me out to a place famous for their coffee?" Lily paused to think, analyzing his behavior.

Zach let out a slight smile. "Didn't think you'd catch on to that… Tried to make it smooth and subtle, you know."

"Not subtle enough…" Lily chuckled as she and Zach turned around and to go back a few blocks to go to Serendipity.

Zach bumped shoulders with the redhead and the two walked the remainder of the way in a comfortable silence. No smiles could have been forced when they passed the wall that led to the shop.

The wall was simply a row of windows, tinted green, yet clear. In frosty letters that perfectly matched casual handwriting: _"The children of the artist's brain Elude mortality … In many hearts, in many lands, They live again their tale …" _

The entrance was on the corner of the curb, and the doors oddly circular and a gentle beige color with bamboo handles. Above them, in edgy letters, _Serendipity. _Below that,_ Sing in me, Muse. _

It was the sort of place you wanted to be seen going into.

With a short bow, Zach ushered Lily into the café. Lily grinned and sighed, inhaling the hazy smell of angelica flowers, fennel and fern.

The best part of Serendipity was the silence. No one was talking and if they did, it was in a whisper. The only sounds were the sensual scratch of pen on paper, the delicate clicking of fingers on a keyboard, the reedy swish of a small paintbrush on canvas, all over the gentle tinkling of Fur Elise.

It was a starving artist's haven. Lily had come here when she had to write in college, for her program, for the old newspaper. For her current job. She wondered why Zach had come here, but didn't pry. One just never pried in old haunts.

The majority of the people were around college age, although there were a few teenagers, and middle aged people here and there.

The walls were wavy, and circular in some places and sharp in others. The background of the walls was an explosion of color, each stroke looking deliberately accidental. A glorious fusion of green and blue with the occasional red and yellow. On top of this was various paintings, quotes, mosaics. The ceiling had a similar background, except the ceiling had a large tarp-like cloth hanging from it, depicting whatever painting struck the owners. Today, it was _Galatea of the Spheres_.

Tables were placed throughout the room, and their colors varied in shades of purple. Zach and Lily made their way to the back of the café, approaching a wooden bar curved gracefully in the corner. In the back, Lily could see the door that led to the soundproofed kitchen. She eyed the trident that was artfully painted on the door as Zach placed his order with the lady manning the counter. Her eye-catching dreadlocks - yes, dreadlocks - with beads and string woven through waved and shined with her every movement.

"Algunas Beastias and an… a champurrado."

Lily grinned - the Mexican hot chocolate was _divine_.

"And you?"

"Two Sisters of Persephone and an Inferno."

The lady bit her lip as she entered their orders in the register. "That'll be… 6.78£." Lily dug into her purse and counted out the correct amount, only to have it taken by Zach as he placed his card on the counter. The lady swiped it with a wink at Lily's gob smacked expression. She handed Zach his card and said, "Your food'll be out in a minute" before leaving to go into the kitchen. Zach handed Lily her money back, with a slight smile.

"But- but you don't have to - " " - but I did. Besides, it's custom for the man to pay."

Lily pouted, not liking how he phrased that. She chose to lead them to one of her favorite tables, 42, by the window. They sat down at the lavender table, and after a few moments of silence, Zach began speaking quietly.

"Well, this is awkward."

"Yeah. What's your favorite color?"

Zach grinned. "Ah, the typical first date question. I'd have to say yellow."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

"I dunno… it's just so… bubbly? Like, you just look at it, and it lifts you from any mood."

"That makes sense, I guess."

"No it doesn't. You're humoring me!"

Lily laughed at the look on Zach's face. "Well, my favorite color is green. Like, a forest green."

"Why?"

Lily thought for a second. "Well, I've always seen green as the real color of ambition and cunning. Everything sort of feeds into it, like how you need blue and yellow to make any green. And in Islamic art, green is like water, and in our little Western world, green is earth. Water and earth. It's a very nice idea, if you think about it. Green is solid and dependable."

Lily glanced up after her little speech. Zach was looking at her, a curious expression on his face.

"Why did you major in journalism and not… English or literature?"

Lily laughed awkwardly. "Well, I minored in English…"

"You know what I mean."

"Majoring in English would've been risky, you know, because of jobs and all. Journalism was much safer."

Zach nodded, accepting Lily's answer. She sighed in relief, especially when a turquoise-haired server came with their food.

He placed a large fancy-looking burger and a red mug filled with Mexican hot chocolate in front of Zach. Lily couldn't help the grin across her face at her salad and milkshake.

"Pascal! Man!" Zach said suddenly, glancing at the server.

"Feck dat, paddy! Oi'm Puck the-day!" His Irish accent was extremely thick.

Lily couldn't resist the chuckle that bubbled out from her throat. Pascal - or Puck as he was today - looked at her before switching to an equally convincing French accent.

"Oui, oui! Ve hav a lay-dee in za house! Mademoiselle, you must be very careful, Zach vill break your haa-rt! He is very popular vith ze laa - dees"

Zach grinned roguishly before switching to an American accent. "Man, you gotta be shitting me. That's some sh - eh -tuh! I don't do all dat."

Simultaneously, the two men dropped their accents. They engaged in an awkward handshake thing, and Pascal/Puck turned to Lily, speaking in what she hoped was his natural Yorkshire.

"See you around, girlie. Not often does my mate come in here to be social."

"Bye." Lily grinned, watching him walk away. "So… uh, old friend?"

"Went to high school with him."

"That's what she said." Lily clamped a hand to her mouth in horror. Zach put his head in his hands as his body shook with laughter.

"Nice! Blimey, you got me good."

Pleased that her spontaneous date was not ruined, Lily added, "Well, you did sort of walk right into it… American."

Zach looked at her in alarm and surprise. "How - I'm not - What?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "When Puck came here you called him 'man' instead of 'mate.' And after you just did the best American accent I've ever heard in my life, you said 'high school.' Not 'secondary school.' And you knew my shoes." Lily added as an afterthought. "No one in England wears Sperry's - they're an East Coast, West Coast sort of thing. I had my Auntie Luna buy me a pair when she and Uncle Rolf were in Maryland. You just walked up and went 'Nice Sperry's.'"

Zach let out a sheepish chuckle and tried to buy time by taking a bite out of his burger. Lily glanced down at her food, popping an olive in her mouth and taking a long drag out of her Inferno. Her mouth tingled with the taste of ice cream, Oreo, caramel and orange.

Zach glanced at her, blushing when she raised an eyebrow at him.

And that was how Lily got to know Zach, the third out of five living in Detroit, Michigan, America. The freelance photographer and filming dork who moved to England to escape a declining American generation. He helped fame Serendipity through his work. And he longed for the chance to go traveling - which was why he "jumped on the chance to go to India, even if it meant sharing a plane with [Lily] and Malfoy." (At that, Lily threw a snow pea at him.)

And in turn, Lily told him about her, the youngest out of three, with a legendary father, a famous mother, a professional footballer brother and an international law-ing brother. About how her mother was the youngest out of seven boys - which made her father "a very, very brave man."

They didn't leave Serendipity until the evening. Zach, with a wink at Lily, tossed an American gold dollar in the foreign money box by the exit.

As soon as they were outside in the slightly chilly air, Zach tossed a casual arm around Lily. Lily giggled, as a thought struck her.

"What?" Zach asked, looking down at her.

"We were _talking_. In Serendipity."

And although it wasn't _funny_, necessarily, the two couldn't stop laughing as they walked back to where they met up.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Potter, bright and early!" Zach said, cheerily.

"Ugh, don't remind me… plane leaves at 8, so - "

" '- for God's sake, be there at 5!'" They chorused together, mimicking Herman.

"Yeah, well, see you around, mate. Thanks again for paying." Lily grinned, and waved goodbye to Zach, carefully and discreetly stepping back. She didn't kiss on the first date. So what if she's only had three boyfriends in her 23 years of life?

Although it was a bit depressing because her mother had three boyfriends by sixteen…

Zach waved back, and Lily turned to walk back to her flat. She felt a slight buzzing in her pocket, and glanced at her phone.

Luke was calling. It was going to be a long night, Lily couldn't help but think wryly as she answered.

**A/N: And the winner is… B&H, with… 3 votes. Please, help a girl out here!**

**Okay, sorry this is a little late, had to do a bunch of stuff. Mainly research - for this! I'm an American, and this is in Britain, so… yeah. In my previous chapter, I think I made an error. It's when Lily is rambling about how she and Scorpius in a plane would be a bad idea, and she says how it would violate "TSA guidelines." The TSA is an American thing - Transportation Security Administration. Basically, they are the security at our airports, screening and guarding and scowling. **

**Anyway, most of my research went into Serendipity! EVERYTHING had a meaning - from the music to the paintings to the colors to the names of the food. Everything. Can you name all the allusions I had in that place? How'd you feel about the new people, Herman, Ja, Luke and Zach? Tell me what you think, opinions, love/hate, etc…. No Scorpius this chapter, sorry. And what about the beloved TV personality, Sybil Trelawney? I'm trying to avoid clichés with them… **


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